Panicking RFK Jr. Sues Key Swing State to Help Trump

It seems that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pro–Donald Trump spoiler campaign isn’t going too well.

The failed independent presidential candidate has begun desperately attempting to scrape his name off the ballot in battleground states where his presence might give Kamala Harris a boost—but to no avail. While Kennedy once struggled to get on the ballot in several states, now he can’t seem to find his way off.

Kennedy is suing North Carolina’s State Board of Elections, after it declined to remove his name from the state’s ballot because 1.7 million ballots had already been printed and 67 of the state’s 100 counties have already received their ballots.

To pause or disrupt ballot printing could interfere with the distribution of absentee ballots, according to the board’s executive director, Karen Brinson Bell. Printing new ballots could cost in the high six-figure range and take nearly two weeks, said Bell.

Last week, the board voted 3–2 along partisan lines to keep Kennedy’s name on the ballot. In response, a lawsuit has been filed on Kennedy’s behalf demanding that he be removed.

“By refusing to acknowledge Kennedy’s statutory rights and entitlements, defendants have irreparably harmed him,” said the lawsuit, which was filed in Wake County Superior Court late last month. “Even worse, by forcing Kennedy to remain on the ballot against his will, defendants are compelling speech in violation of (the Constitution).”

The suit argues that “practicality” is not a valid legal standard by which the board can deny Kennedy’s request.

Kennedy’s inability to slink out of the race in key battleground states has the potential to hurt the Trump campaign. Kennedy even said that his own campaign’s polling showed that it would “likely hand the election over to the Democrats” if he remained on the ballot in certain states. As the race between Harris and Trump narrows, the likelihood of his spoiling Trump’s chances too only increases.

In North Carolina, Trump has retained a one-point lead, but a new report last week found that Harris had shored up support among Democratic and independent voters, gaining 13 points with each group. As a result, the Cook Political Report updated the race from a “leaning Republican” rating to a “toss-up.”

Kennedy’s requests to be removed from the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin have also been denied. Election officials in Michigan said that minor parties were unable to withdraw from the ballot, while officials in Wisconsin said that anyone who filed nomination papers and qualified to appear on the ballot could not decline the nomination.

In the less than two weeks since Kennedy announced he was suspending his campaign to throw his weight behind Trump, the whale-decapitator has made clear that he intends to stay on the ballot in some states but not others. He has successfully removed himself from the ballot in other battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona.